The present invention relates to a novel device for monitoring the mounting means and wheel bearing integrity on axle wheels particularly useful for vehicles, manufacturing apparatuses and like bodies.
Wheels secure to vehicles by the expedient of wheel axle retaining nuts, and wheel stud nuts in the most common instances. Constant turning of an axle mounted wheel results in wear and tear on the component holding the wheel in place. Axle mounted wheels are often subjected to punishment as a consequence of travel on rough and/or uneven surfaces. Other factors such as exposure to the elements, manufacturing defects, drayage of heavy cargo, metal fatigue and the like tend to cause failure of the integrity of a wheel mounting.
The prior solution to the failure of a wheel mounting has been frequent inspections, preventive maintenance, employment of superior materials and lubrication, quality control in manufacturing and other piecemeal tasks. Despite these expensive and time consuming efforts, failure of wheel mountings often occurs with disasterous or near disasterous effects.
The remaining unsolved problem has been the lack of a means to monitor or obtain information on a wheel mounting while the wheel is in operation. Reference is made to my copending United States Patent Application, Ser. No. 660,455, filed Feb. 23, 1976 which describes an advance in the art of monitoring pneumatic pressure while a pneumatic tire or pneumatically inflated body is in motion or otherwise difficult to approach.
No known device, apparatus, or method has been disclosed which teaches a solution to the aforementioned problem.